Sweetness and Light Blog – Salted Caramel – Chocolates

We have a new item for all of you adventurous toffee fans out there- Spicy Peanut Toffee!

Our Spicy Peanut Toffee is made with our own handmade butter toffee, freshly roasted peanuts, and dash of cayenne chili pepper. Spicy Peanut Toffee is the perfect combination of sweet, salty, spicy, and crunchie! Check it out below…

Spicy Peanut Toffee

Due to popular demand we have brought back our Pumpkin Truffles out of season for a very limited time! Order yours now while they are still available!

Order Your Pumpkin Truffles!

We find the process of chocolate making to be fascinating. Also, we think it is important to know and understand where chocolate or rather cacao comes from.

Cacao, pronounced ‘ka-KOW’, is the raw ingredient used to make chocolate. It is grown in various parts of the world along the Equator. Humid temperatures and jungle-like surroundings provide ideal conditions for growing this colorful fruit. Cacao Pods come in shades of red, orange, yellow and green, and sprout from the trunks of cacao trees, and cacao beans (seeds actually) are found inside the pods where a delicate, sweet, fruity pulp surrounds the cacao bean cotyledons (which later become nibs). Cacao pods are harvested throughout the year as they reach optimal ripeness, mainly from October though May.

Here are some photos of cacao pods:

Sweetness and Light Handmade Chocolate

This is a very common question and we think you’ll be pleased to see some real facts on the matter. Here is some more good news for you chocoholics out there — some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:

• Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.
• Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.
• Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is “bad” for you! Treat yourself to something delicious today and don’t feel too bad about it.

Sweetness and Light Handmade Chocolate

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

• Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
• Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

Source: About.com

Here are some delicious dark chocolate goodies:

Quetzalcoatl Dark Chocolate Bar

Swiss Bittersweet Truffles